SAN MARCOS, Texas — Lehman High School senior Matthew Tobias has a lot to celebrate right now, even if there are some downsides.  

“It’s actually kind of a little sad because I might not see some of my friends ever again because they’re all going to different colleges around the country,” Tobias said.

Tobias is graduating from high school this May.  

“It’s been a great relationship. It actually kind of hurts he’s graduating,” Lehman High School focus teacher Arthur Mendez said. “We’re expecting big things from him.”

Mendez has been working with Tobias since he was in the sixth grade.  

Tobias is one of the 125,189 students with autism in Texas, according to the Texas Education Agency. But those around him will tell you he has not let the diagnosis stop him from achieving what he wants.  

He’s been an athletic trainer, a member of the high school band and a member of the powerlifting team.

“During my junior year, I started doing student council, which was probably a good idea for my autism,” Tobias said.  

When the opportunity to follow in his brother’s footsteps as a student at Texas State University came up, he didn’t hesitate.

“Matthew doesn’t know the word impossible,” his mother, Teri Tobias, said.  

Tobias has been accepted into the Bobcat RISE program at Texas State.

Lehman High School senior Matthew Tobias will join the second Bobcat RISE cohort in the fall. (Spectrum News 1/Agustin Garfias)

RISE is an acronym for Resilience, Independence, Self-Determination and Empowerment. Bobcat RISE is described as an inclusive, four-year residential postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

“They have a chance to live here on campus in the dorms with traditional students, and they take traditional courses with their peer group,” program Director Dr. Tamara Shetron said.  

Only two other programs like Bobcat RISE exist in the state of Texas. The others are UNT ELEVAR at the University of North Texas and Aggie Achieve at Texas A&M in College Station. However, there are 17 colleges across the state that offer programs for IDD students, according to thinkcollege.net.

“Some [programs] focus on employment, some focus on independent living skills,” Shetron said.

Shetron says the only difference between traditional students and Bobcat RISE students is they don’t get credit for the classes they take.

“That’s because in addition to accommodations, we can modify the curriculum for them so that they’re able to do the work, and we also have special courses that support them directly in areas that they may specifically need,” Shetron said. “We start tailoring their coursework to the topic they’re interested in and form a concentration for them and at the same time providing employment experiences.”

Bobcat RISE started with a cohort of five last fall semester, but 10 students will be admitted every fall semester moving forward.

“They started timid just like any other college freshman, and then, by around November, they all started sitting up taller,” Shetron said of the group.  

Shetron says preparation is key for IDD students to attend an inclusive postsecondary education program.  

She suggests parents open as many doors as possible and allow their child to be independent so they’re ready for a college program.  

“His father and I have always wanted to have the thought that he might have some sense of an independent life,” Teri Tobias said of her son. “Even though we’re nervous and we’re scared, we’re swallowing that because he’s going to do amazing.”